What to do about Realtek RTL8125 RTL8126 RTL8127 drivers

stormi

I've had this thread in my TODO list for long.

I'm not sure what the different options we have mean for users.

As r8125-module is installed by default, we'll want to avoid breaking it for existing users. Would using the new code risk causing regressions? Maybe that's what you meant but I'm not sure. Does our current r8125 driver support both 8125 and 8126, and not 8127? Or just 8125?

If we can't update the driver without causing regressions, then can we offer an alternate driver based on the new code for each chip (8125, 8126, 8127), and what amount of work might this represent?

The target would be XCP-ng 8.3. In XCP-ng 9.0 we'll have a newer kernel and newer drivers anyway.

CCing @Team-Hypervisor-Kernel for their opinion.

Andrew

@stormi Unless new Dom0 is Kernel 6.15 or newer (with updates), this will be an ongoing problem to support the newest hardware as they seem to keep updating the chips (you can't stop progress).

The current r8125 driver in 8.2/8.3 supports the 8125 and some 8126 chips, but not 8127. Other than supporting the new hardware versions of the chips, I have not seen any real complaints posted about the current r8125 driver (may be there are some Vates tickets?)

While the risk on the new driver is low, it is different (not just an update). I agree that it would be best to have r8125-module-alt for the new code and then r8126-module and r8127-module.

Note, that the new r8126-module driver should not be installed without the r8125-module-alt as the existing r8125-module would conflict with the new r8126-module driver.

The work is already done (compiled and running)... I'm just waiting for Realtek to fix some issues with the new code before it's worth fully testing the drivers (issues already acknowledged by Realtek).

antalig

@Andrew

I am experiencing an issue with the RTL8125 Rev5 2.5G 4 port. My xcp-ng (8.3) host (Lenovo M720q) shows the NICs under 'Display NICs' and shows connected when I plug in an RJ45 cat6, but my router will only give out an IPV6 address, not IPV4 when looking at the DHCP scopes. (IPV4 is enabled on the router and works with everything else, including the onboard Intel Gigabit e1000e).

'ethtool -i eth4' shows 'driver:r8125' and 'version:9.016.01-NAPI-PTP-RSS' with 'firmware-version: rtl8125b-2_0.0.2 07/13/20'. (I installed your r8125-module-alt from your website)

I have not done a firmware update yet so might that help?

This is a completely fresh install of xcp-ng so I can purge it and re-install or ty any suggestions

Andrew

@antalig There's no firmware update for the RTL812x cards. It's loaded by the driver and Realtek as not released any newer updates (from what XCP already has).

I have had issues with some multi-port cards in XCP 8.2. I have not tested them again with XCP 8.3

Does it work (or even show up) without the updated alt driver?
Try a static IPv4 assignment and see if it works.
Try booting newer Linux (like Debian 13) and see if it works.
Post a lspci

antalig

@Andrew Ah fair enough re firmware & not testing with 8.3, appreciate the assistance :)ping

Without the alt driver it showed up as 'driver:r8125' and 'version:9.012.04-NAPI-PTP-RSS' with 'firmware-version: rtl8125b-2_0.0.2 07/13/20' when running 'ethtool -i eth4'.

static IPv4 made no difference, the static assigns but cannot ping gateway or external 8.8.8.8

I had an ubuntu 24.04 to hand and while the network adapter shows up there it also does not seem to work... would purchasing an I225-V or i226 afford me better luck?

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 8th Gen Core Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers (rev 07)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6th-10th Gen Core Processor PCIe Controller (x16) (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation CoffeeLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]
00:08.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v5/v6 / E3-1500 v5 / 6th/7th/8th Gen Core Processor Gaussian Mixture Model
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH USB 3.1 xHCI Host Controller (rev 10)
00:14.2 RAM memory: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH Shared SRAM (rev 10)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH HECI Controller (rev 10)
00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH SATA AHCI Controller (rev 10)
00:1b.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH PCI Express Root Port #21 (rev f0)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH PCI Express Root Port #6 (rev f0)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 300 Series Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 10)
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH cAVS (rev 10)
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH SMBus Controller (rev 10)
00:1f.5 Serial bus controller: Intel Corporation Cannon Lake PCH SPI Controller (rev 10)
00:1f.6 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (7) I219-V (rev 10)
01:00.0 PCI bridge: Pericom Semiconductor PI7C9X2G608GP PCIe2 6-Port/8-Lane Packet Switch
02:01.0 PCI bridge: Pericom Semiconductor PI7C9X2G608GP PCIe2 6-Port/8-Lane Packet Switch
02:02.0 PCI bridge: Pericom Semiconductor PI7C9X2G608GP PCIe2 6-Port/8-Lane Packet Switch
02:03.0 PCI bridge: Pericom Semiconductor PI7C9X2G608GP PCIe2 6-Port/8-Lane Packet Switch
02:04.0 PCI bridge: Pericom Semiconductor PI7C9X2G608GP PCIe2 6-Port/8-Lane Packet Switch
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125 2.5GbE Controller (rev 05)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125 2.5GbE Controller (rev 05)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125 2.5GbE Controller (rev 05)
06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8125 2.5GbE Controller (rev 05)
07:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd NVMe SSD Controller SM981/PM981/PM983
08:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 8265 / 8275 (rev 78)

Andrew

@antalig As Ubuntu also fails it could be some problem with the card hardware design.

Yes, the i225 chips have better drivers.

olivierlambert

Ouch, indeed if it's also broken with Ubuntu, it might be the card itself.

antalig

@Andrew Cheers

Trying this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CBX9MNXX

And will give this a go which other people seem to have success with!
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008790660980.html

antalig

@olivierlambert Great to know it's not something I was doing wrong! Hopefully these other cards I have ordered will afford me more luck! Cheers

Andrew

I have updated the drivers for the Realtek RTL812x 2.5/5/10G cards. So far they are working correctly. There are a few minor issues that Realtek needs to fix (for the next version, they say). Also the new Realtek firmware has not been added to XCP (but it's not required).

The standard included 8125 driver for XCP 8.3 is not updated. To use the new driver install the new alt version of the 8125 driver. To support the 8126 install the required 8125 alt version first and then the new 8126 driver.

The 8127 driver is also available for the new 10GB chips (I just got a production PCIe card for testing). The first issue I see with this card is, it is only a PCIe x1 card, so for full performance you need PCIe 4.0... There are other 8127 chips that support x2 so they will better support PCIe 3.0.

Realtek will keep releasing new versions of the chips that will require updates to the drivers to function correctly. Even current versions of Linux needs updates to support the newer chips.